Community Restoration And The ChurchНамуна

Next Generation  

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually on programs, worldwide missions and ministries aimed at adults when the ripest harvest is right across the street in the lives of young people longing to hear that they are valuable, skilled and have both a future and a hope. Studies show that outreach to children has the greatest possible impact towards kingdom building. Therefore, the church should have a strong desire to partner with nearby schools.

One reason this partnership works rests in the fact that all communities already possess families, schools and churches. Something “new” doesn’t need to be created. Instead, we’re taking the preexisting elements in the community and bringing them together with the content and scope of the gospel. With the content of the gospel, the church shares the salvation message with families in order to change their thinking and lifestyles. With the scope of the gospel, the church provides social services to students and families who are in need. This is a tangible way for the church to strengthen the family. To the degree that families are stabilized, communities are positively affected. This is so because the breakdown of the family is the single greatest cause of social disintegration.

High school dropouts earn an average of $260,000 less than graduates over their lifetime, and taxpayers spend more than $8 billion annually on them for public assistance. High school dropouts have increased our prison population which now costs over $52 billion a year. Teenage pregnancies contribute to a $ 10 billion annual bill by way of public assistance. These are just a few alarming stats, but there are many others. The bottom line is that we need to help, support and equip our children. After all, it is far easier to shape a child than to repair an adult.

What are some of the ways a church can partner with a school to offer social services?